Belarus: President Lukashenko under pressure, thousands of demonstrators march

Already on Saturday there were tens of thousands of people in the streets of the country. On Sunday, Belarusians continued to march in Minsk, the capital, during a " March for freedom " against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, facing a huge protest movement.

“ Go! », Chanted the protesters to the attention of the head of state, walking along Independence Avenue in central Minsk, according to an AFP journalist on the spot.

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President Alexander Lukashenko, facing the biggest wave of protest since coming to power in 1994, called on Sunday to defend the country's independence in front of a crowd of supporters in Minsk. " Dear friends, I called you here not so that you defend me but because, for the first time in a quarter of a century, you can defend your country and its independence ", he launched, under the ovations , from Independence Square where several thousand people gathered, according to an AFP journalist.

Alexander Lukashenko, 65, reacted to the opposition's desire to organize a new presidential election, after that of August 9 which gave him the winner but gave rise to accusations of massive fraud. " If we do this, we'll go into a spin and we'll never come back ," he predicted, facing the crowd waving the red and green flag inherited from the Soviet period.

" The elections have taken place, a falsified score cannot be more than 80%, " he said, referring to the official results which credited him with more than 80% of the vote.

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Speaking from a platform, surrounded by bodyguards, Alexander Lukashenko denounced the desire, according to him, to impose on the country " a government from abroad ".

Beside him stood his youngest son, Nikolai Lukashenko, sometimes presented as his potential successor. “ We don't have any friends, they all want us to get on our knees. Belarus will not be divided as in 1939. We will not forget , ”said Alexander Lukashenko, before leaving the platform to applause.